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Herbs in the 18th Century- Carolyn Murphy

After 43 years of federal government service (41 of which were with the U. S. Postal Service), Carolyn moved on in retirement to become a Watermark tour guide in Annapolis, Maryland.  As a tour guide, she became familiar with other historical activities in Naptown. She is in her 18th year of guiding in Annapolis and also has been a docent at the William Paca House & Gardens and a living history re-enactor at Hogshead, a tradesman’s house, with Historic Annapolis for the same amount of time.

Ms. Murphy’s colonial alter-ego is Miss Annabell M. Snead, a baker’s assistant who moonlights as an herbalist to the working-class needy in 18th-century Annapolis. When delivering baked goods to the cook at the Paca kitchen, Snead quietly snips herbs from Paca’s physic garden to make her potions for the poor. Ms. Murphy has also performed re-enactments as Miss Snead in the “Sick Room” and the garden at Paca, talking about the ills and evils of colonial medicine and the herbal remedies that would have been much more effective and easier to take.

In the presentation of Herbs in the 18th Century, Carolyn, as Miss Snead, will talk about the types of herbs that a “herb woman” would use and why it would be easier to take than a doctor’s potion. She also covers types of herbs that would be preferred for dyeing fabric and those you would want to use in food and around the house.